The saga with the Panda is ongoing! 5 months have passed and the car still has paint problems, its been with the dealer for 31 days now, and yesterday I had to go over because for the third time they have lost the report on the work needed!!! No work has been done to my car at all, so I went to the dealer manager and told him what I thought and am waiting a response! I diots!

This is ridiculous. What about a FF email campaign to the dealer??

Have you considered a solicitors letter to rejct the car?
May get their attention.

Ditto mate, my Stilo is still at the dealers, 18 days after it went in for some minor paintwork and to have the leaky aircon sorted. I wouldn't mind too much, but I've trekked down twice (40 mile round trip) to unsuccesfully collect it. The last time, on Tuesday, it had arrived back at the dealers from the bodyshop having had nothing done to it at all

Gonna ring them now actually and see what the crack is.

Oh no! They told me today thats it not really their fault, its the bodyshops!!! But... its the same fri**ing company, aarrgghh!!!!!!

at last, some action. got an email from the boss, says he will investigate this and arrange a meeting next week.

Threaten a detailed report to Fiat HQ unless it gets sorted asap - Fiat seemed genuinely interested when I had to report one of their dealers. I'd be interested to see what happens.

oh, and good luck

you think your having a bad time i had a set of spark plugs fitted under warranty to my Marea HLX 20v only to have one blow out of the cylinder head bending all four valves and the piston is to replace as well.
these Fiat main agent garages are great arn't they

Splinter said:

you think your having a bad time i had a set of spark plugs fitted under warranty to my Marea HLX 20v only to have one blow out of the cylinder head bending all four valves and the piston is to replace as well.
these Fiat main agent garages are great arn't they

Click to expand...

Are they going to cover the damage? Was it their fault?

31 days with the dealer? I'd be climbing the Fu***ing walls. I really feel bad for you. A FF e-mail campaign to the dealer sounds good...

Getting on for 6 weeks now, apparently the boss has gone sick!!!! Thats why he hasnt rung me allegedly and they are awaiting parts, its getting stupid, so today I rang Fiat themselves and they couldnt believe the story, see where this gets me!

Seriously. You should be getting your money back!

Fat chance of getting anything I reckon. Probably get an apology and a free service, which is standard dealer compensation. Today I am so fed up about it all I could hit one of those idiots!

How old is the car (new I guess, but how long have you had it). You have the right to reject the vehicle only when you pick it up from the dealer when the car is new. The best you can hope for now, if you want to get out of the car is for a 'buy back' from Fiat or a dealer 'buy back' where either fiat or the dealer buy the car back as if it were a part ex and the car had no problems... you'd definatly loose out... failing that you can always negociate a part ex with your current car on a new car (fiat always want to sell another car) make sure you get above asking price on your current car... i.e. by a good 3-4%, you should also be able to knock up to 10% off the new car depending on the list price. (a dealer usually makes <12% of the list price on a new car, the cheaper the car the less money at stake, the less likely they are to want to make the deal).

When you pick up the car make sure that you arrange the pick up during the day on a sunny day (difficult to predict I know) if it's raining, ask to pick the vehicle up the next day... make sure that there are no chips in the paint work and that the paint is evenly distributed over the car, if you suspect that any part of the car has been touched up or will need re-spraying do not accept the car (incedently I don't know how this will affect your cash deposite, however if your deposite is your old car, you shouldn't have a problem, so long as you haven't signed the V5 over to the dealer). Also keep in mind that the paint on a new car fades quite rapidly from the time it is sprayed in the factory until it gets to you, so when parts need spraying, it is often dificult to match the colour of the car using the colour codes from the manufacturer.

Things also to check on a brand new car are:
- No transport fixings in the suspention/breaks (bits of plastic that stop the car moving too much during transit)
- Spare wheel (especially if you asked for space-saver or alloy spares)
- Radio Codes are keyed in
- Red/Master keys
- Mats if you ordered them

Also, if you want to be extra sure, you may wish to take the dealer on a test drive before you take your pride and joy home... however this may constitute your acceptance of the vehicle... if you are at all unsure about the car ask the dealer, and get him/her to write down any defects that they promice to fix, and have the vehicle booked in then and there, if possible leave the vehicle with the dealer until the problems have been resolved... thus you have not accepted the car...

hope this helps

I dont want to get rid of the car, all I want is my car restored to the condition it should have been in when new, and an explanation of why the car arrived like it did and why its taken so long to sort it. Oh, and I reckon some sort of compensation is due, at the very least a months payment on the car for when I havent used it!

As far as compensation goes, you'll be lucky... you should be able to negociate free major service or something, I would expect you should be able to get an extended warrenty on the defective items FOC, unfortunatly, despite the time it takes, so long as the dealer fixes the problem they are fulfilling the guarentee in the contract that you signed when you purchased the vehicle, which will say something along the lines of: if an item is deemed to be defective and can not be remedied by FIAT GB or a franchised dealer then and only then will the item be replaced... (this is not a quote, just an example of what to look for in the documentation you signed when you bought the car). I would be surprised if FIAT or the dealer don't offer any good will

Also if you are still experiancing difficulties when the manufacturers warrenty expires (which I really hope you don't), so long as the dealer is made aware of the fault before the warrenty expires they are duty bound to continue to support the defective part even when the warrenty has expired, until it is fixed and you have accepted the remedy. Remember to tell the dealer immediatly if you have a problem that could be a warrenty issue. If the part then fails again it's up to you unless the part (including paint) has a warrenty of it's own. If you build up a good relationship with the dealer they may even help you out here.

My best advice is not to go in all guns blazing, even when you're really frustrated, they're much more likely to play your game if you are firm but friendly rather than shout at them. Don't be afraid to ask questions to other customers at the same dealership either see if they are having similar problems, if you're the only one, perhaps it really is a one off.

p.s. I don't work for FIAT, but I did used to work for a car manufaturer in customer relations, not so long a go.

Ha didn't mean to write another essay! Sorry!

I have tried hard to build a good relationship with the dealer, but I have spoken to four different people now, and am getting false promises all the time , its total boll*cks. I have been patient and friendly and still it doesnt work, thats why Ive got Fiat involved. I shall never set foot in their again after I get my Panda back and there is no way they are servicing my car, free or not! Its now 5 months since I bought the car and they have had it for 39 days!!!!!! Theyve only got to paint 2 panels and stick a badge and bit of trim on for christ sake! IMHO, customer care doesnt exist these days, its take your money give you a car and sod off....

If you've tried and failed, then there is nothing more you can do... If they really have mucked you about that much then there is no reason that you should give them your business, they clearly don't want it! Take your car and hard earned dosh to a dealer that actually wants to fix cars!

Hope everything turns out Ok, keep the forum posted!

failing that tell them they can keep the car and tell them your going to buy a honda . Is it me or are fiat dealers the worst out the lot ?. at work we have 6 peogeot 206 vans and 3 of them broke down at the same time and williamsons had them fixed and ready 36hours after going in.